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The Price of Liberty
Overview = (Volume 0) |next = |arc_primary = Tour of Duty }} "The Price of Liberty" is the first chapter of the of , written in December 2013 and published on 2 January 2014. It is authored by . ;Summary :The responds to a distress call from the , but is attacked en route by a Klingon vessel hellbent on gaining an advantage in the war with the Federation. . The informs the captain that structural integrity is failing, and the captain realizes the end is near. A volley of fired by the Klingons strikes the Starfleet vessel, causing Jason's console to explode in his face. He suddenly wakes up in his apartment in San Francisco, realizing he was having a nightmare. He calms himself and returns to sleep. Act I: Graduation Day On stardate 82513.9, the Class of 2408 graduation ceremony is being held at Starfleet Academy. An admiral approaches the podium and begins thanking everyone for coming and the staff for hosting the event. Jason and his friend, Lucas Wells, are among those graduating. The admiral invites Jason up to give the . At first, Jason is a bit nervous, but he gains his composure after a few moments. Among those he thanks in the speech are Fleet Admiral Jorel Quinn and his parents. He concludes the speech, saying, "I've wanted to go out and explore the stars since I was just a kid, and now my dream is finally coming true. Thank you for helping me achieve my goal to become a Starfleet officer." He steps down from the podium, receiving a large round of applause from the crowd. The admiral begins naming the graduates and having them stand behind her. Once they are all on the stage, they turn to face the audience, taking a collective bow. Jason reports to Lieutenant Ferra, the at Starfleet Academy. Ferra tells him that Captain Masc Taggart wishes to speak with him in his office. Jason enters, and Taggart tells Jason that he wants him to be his tactical officer aboard the . Jason is a bit surprised, but he accepts the position. Taggart then tells Jason to report to the shuttlebay and meet up with the other personnel. Jason enters the shuttlebay and orders a drink at the bar in the lounge there. Another cadet named Daniel Harvey begins agitating him, comparing him to a child. Dylyp Azeli attempts to diffuse the situation, but is pushed away by Harvey. Jason begins to walk away when Harvey insults his father as a last resort to rile him up. It works, and Jason nearly strikes him, though he is stopped by a senior officer. Jason then boards the Zeus, a shuttle inbound for the Leviathan. On the shuttle, he meets some other recent graduates, Hannah Freeman, Ernie Hauser, Jhael Onika and Vance L'eher. They all gaze in awe at the sight of the Leviathan. Act II: Klingons Eight months have passed since graduation. Jason enters the mess hall and finds that his old friend Lucas has just been assigned to the Leviathan from the . They begin to discuss where their next assignment may be, but are interrupted by the ship-wide announcement by Captain Taggart that they have just received a distress call from the . The duo proceeds down a corridor when the first officer, Henry Fuller, asks where they are going. Jason tells him that they are headed for the , and the three of them enter a turbolift. Jason introduces Lucas and Fuller to each other, and they exchange greetings. When they reach the bridge, Taggart is waiting for them. Fuller tells him that Lucas is the new science officer, and Taggart directs him to his . Jason assumes his place at the . Marvolo Piers, the , informs the captain that they are approaching the location of the Break Even. Taggart gives the order to drop out of warp. Ensign Koja Nara declares that a Klingon ship is decloaking, and charging up their weapons. The ship takes heavy damage, and several crewmen are badly injured. The engineer reports over the comm that Klingon boarding parties have invaded , and Taggart sends Jason down to assist them. Lucas tags along as well, insisting that Jason will need him. Jason and Lucas meet up with Jhael Onika and Vance L'eher outside engineering. They fight their way past several Klingons and eventually manage to retake engineering. Jason reports their success to the captain and is ordered back to the bridge. Jason and Lucas enter the bridge, only to find a Klingon boarding party has just transported there. Fuller is wounded by one of the Klingons, and Taggart is taken hostage aboard the Klingons' ship. Jason calls upon Dr. Travis Murray, which he finds out from the nurse, Julia Cromwell, that he is dead. Fuller, near death, informs Jason that he must complete the mission. Jason then makes a ship-wide announcement that he is taking command. Act III: Needs of the Many Julia soon arrives on the bridge, accompanied by Ernie Hauser, Hannah Freeman, and Charlie Morgan. Ernie takes the conn station, Hannah takes , and Charlie the ops station. Fuller dies shortly after from a pierced lung and internal bleeding. Jason then orders Hannah to send a distress call to the nearest Starfleet vessel, with a second encrypted signal piggybacking the first. The Klingons hail them and their captain, Kadek, informs them that he has relayed their distress signal to Starfleet using an "old Earth method." He then offers them a deal: if Jason will give him information regarding the Federation's fleet movements along the Klingon border, as well as the ships' design specifications, he will release Captain Taggart to them. He allows them to speak to Taggart for a moment, and Taggart convinces Jason not to mount a rescue. He tells Jason to get the Leviathan to safety and leave him behind. After exchanging farewells, Jason has Hannah terminate the channel between the ships. He orders Charlie to fire upon the Klingons, but Charlie informs him that weapons are still offline. He then prepares to ram the Klingon ship with the Leviathan. Suddenly, the warps into the system, and hails the Leviathan. Captain Vo'Lok informs Jason that they will handle the Klingons. The and USS Renown exchange blows until the Renown finally lands a major hit to the Chot's engine. The Klingons retreat, and the Renown is unsuccessful in rescuing Taggart. Just then, the Renown receives another distress call, this one from the . Vo'Lok contacts Jason and tells him of their failure to retrieve Taggart, to which Jason insists on tracking the Klingons. Vo'Lok also tells him of the distress call, and their duty to assist the Khitomer. Vo'Lok then sends several work crews over to the Leviathan to assist them in repairs. The two ships then embark for the location of the Khitomer. - References = Characters #Lucas Wells #Daniel Harvey #Tala Jones #Lenerea Mendel #Leo Anderson #Dylyp Azeli #Elisa Flores #Hannah Freeman #Ernie Hauser #Vance L'eher #Norrg'k #Jeff Philips #Serov #T'Vrell #Raltha Trebor #Sofia Wenner #Zarva #Ferra #Masc Taggart #Jhael Onika #Crusoe #Henry Fuller #Marvolo Piers #Koja Nara #Mars Lionel #Julia Cromwell #Charlie Morgan #Kadek #Vo'Lok Referenced only #Jorel Quinn #Thomas Fredricks #Maria Fredricks #Jiro Sugihara #Winston Churchill #Jean-Luc Picard #Travis Murray Unnamed *Unnamed USS Leviathan (NCC-93151) personnel *Unnamed USS Renown personnel *Unnamed Starfleet personnel *Unnamed Starfleet Academy personnel *Unnamed Earth Spacedock personnel }} Starships #''Zeus'' # # # Referenced only # # # Locations #San Francisco, Earth #Starfleet Academy #Earth Spacedock Referenced only #Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards #Imaga system Other references *Human *Klingon *Tellarite *Vulcan Other *2408 *2409 *admiral *cadet *captain *Class of 2408 *commander *ensign * * *lieutenant * *number one *Saurian brandy *stardate }} - Appendices = Continuity *Multiple cadets who graduated in 2408 but were not immediately assigned to the later join the Leviathan s crew. They include: **Dylyp Azeli (joins in ) **Tala Jones (joins in ) **Lenerea Mendel (joins in "Researcher Rescue") **Lucas Wells (joins later in this chapter) *Masc Taggart states that he picked up the term "number one" from his "former commanding officer." This indicates that Taggart served aboard the at some point. Background and trivia *This chapter is an adaptation of the missions " ", " ", and " ". *It is an extensive rewrite of , 's original first chapter. **It also uses the same title as the original second chapter of the story. *It received a comprehensive revision in October 2015 which was accidentally published over by . It was again revised between June and July 2016; the end product was slightly different from the 2015 revision. *Various characters that did not appear in "Khitomer Crisis" were added to this chapter. **Vance L'eher, Jhael Onika, Vo'Lok, and Kadek, among others, did not appear in the original version of the chapter. **Hannah Freeman was originally named Hannah Morrison, and Charlie Morgan was simply called Morgan or Ensign Morgan. }} |-| Read chapter = Navigation Category:Chapters